Packing-machine.



PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

- A. 'Il HALL. PACKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 18,1907.

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AUNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

ALBERT I. HALL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

PACKIN G-MACHINE To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALBERT I. HALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, county of Strafford, State of New Ham shire, have invented a certain new and usefu Packing-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for acking apples and similar fruit, the object eing to rovide a machine by which the fruit may be shaken down and closely packed in the barrel or other receptacle in which it is placed for shipment to the market.

Apples are very generally packed for the market in barrels, and, unless fitted compactly together and held firmly in place, will in handling work about so as to pack more closely together and thus become loose or slack Good results can of course be obtained by carefully packing the fruit by hand, but such work is expensive and careful packers are hard to find.

The method heretofore commonly emloyed has been to put a half bushel or so of fruit in a barrel and rock the barrel back and forth on its bottom, then add another half bushel of fruit and repeat the rocking movement, and so on until the barrel is filled, whereupon a head is fitted on top of the fruit and pressed down into place and there secured. In this rocking movement, however, as the barrel is raised and dropped first on one edge and then on anotlier, without confining the fruit, the tendency is to shake down the fruit on one side of the barrel and at the same time to cause that already shaken down on the other side to rebound and become loose again. Thus, it has been found practically impossible to pack fruit satisfactorily in this way, or so that it will not reach the market in a more or less slack condition Without pressing it down so hard as thereby to injure it to a great extent and the amount of the losses due to poor packing will be appreciated when it is understood that every slack7 barrel of apples comi mands in the market a price from twentyfive cents to one dollar less than that paid for a tight barrel.

Fruit can be well and cheaply packed, and the alternative of a loss in its market value or an excessive cost for labor largely obviated, by the use of the acking machine hereinafter described anc claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in Which- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 18, 1907.

Patented .Tune 30, 1908.

Serial No. 368,880.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, with a part of the front removed to show the mechanism at the bottom, Fig. 2, a side elevation, Fig. 3, a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Figa 1; Fig. 4,' a detail, somewhat enlarged, of the mechanism at the lower part the machine and Fig. 5, a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

, Referring to the drawing, 1 is a barrel of fruit standing on a movable bottom or platform 2, at the lower end of an upright box, open at the front .and top, comprising side walls 3, back 4, and bottom 5. The movable platform rests normally upon blocks or supports 6, suitably secured in place, and is capable of movement up and down on guides 7 working in grooves 8 in the ends of the platform. The compartment formed by the platform at the bottom of the box is closed by a front piece 9 secured, say, tothe bottom and side walls. A shaft 10, journaled in the sides of the box, has mounted thereon cam or wiper wheels 11, the arms of which act against the inclined faces of blocks 12, secured to the lower side of the platform, to rest and drop the platform and the barrel of fruit thereon, the shaft bein@ driven by means of a crank or hand-wieel 13 and sprocket 14, suitably mounted at the upper part of the box, chain 15, and sprocket 16,

mounted on an extension of the shaft at that side of the box. A cover 17 fits over the top of the barrel and during the operation of the machine is held down on top of the -fruit therein by springs 18 detachably secured thereto. An ordinary screw pressing-head 19 for pressinl the head of the barrel into place is pivotally attached to the sides of the box so that it can be tipped back out of the way until needed.

Briefly stated, the operation of the machine is as follows: The barrel is 'filled up with fruit and placed on the platform, the cover is ut in place and the springs attached, an( then a few turns of the hand-wheel raises and dro s the barrel perpendicularly so as to shake dIown and pack the fruit uniformly, while the spring-pressed cover confines the fruit in lace and otherwise aids in the packing. T 1e springs are then detached, the cover is removed and a barrel-head substituted therefor, and the screw ressing-head is raised into position and use(l to press the head into place where it is secured in the usual manner.

While I have described my invention as used for packing apples in barrels and in what I now regard as its best form, it is obvious that it is well adapted for packing other similar fruits and in boxes or'other receptacles as well as in barrels, and that the several parts of the machine can be variously modified, or equivalents substituted therefor, without departing from the spirit or sacriiicing the advantages thereof. For example, the machine can be used, although not so advantageously, without any springpressed cover; the platform may be stationary and larger cams made to operate through openings therein directly against the bottom of the barrel; and other equivalent means can be used in place of the cam wheels shown and described for raising and dropping the barrel. Such other modifications can also be made as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a machine of the character described, means for raising and dropping a barrel or other receptacle for fruit and means for conining and pressing down the fruit in said receptacle during the raising and dropping thereof.

2. In a machine of the character described, a platform resting upon supports, means for raising said platform u wards from and dropping it back upon said) supports and a cover adapted to be placed temporarily over a barrel or other receptacle for fruit standing on said platform to confine and press down the `fruit therein during the operation of the machine.

3. In a mechanism of the character described, a boX open at the top and front and having a movable platform resting upon supports at the bottom, means for raising said platform upwards from and dropping it back upon said supports, and a screw pressing-head at the upper end of said boX and pivotally mounted thereon.

ALBERT I. HALL. Witnesses:

ELMER J. SMART, STEPHEN D. WENTWORTH. 

